COEUR d’ALENE — The Alzheimer’s Association is hosting the North Idaho Walk to End Alzheimer’s beginning at 8:30 a.m. Saturday at Riverstone Park. Registration opens at 8:30 a.m. The opening ceremony starts at 9:30 a.m.; the three-mile walk begins at 10 a.m.

Event participants honor people affected by the disease. They carry flowers to represent why they walk: A purple flower means a lost loved one, yellow is for caregivers. People living with Alzheimer’s and dementia carry blue flowers. The white flower, a symbol for Alzheimer’s first survivor, is part of the opening ceremony.

Last year’s Walk to End Alzheimer’s attracted nearly 400 participants and raised more than $50,000. The event is one of 600 walks held nationwide each year to raise Alzheimer’s awareness. To date, the walks have brought in nearly $100 million for Alzheimer’s care, support and research programs.

The Washington State Chapter, which also serves North Idaho, is hosting 16 Walk to End Alzheimer’s events across the region this fall. Funding from the walks is crucial to local community programs for people facing Alzheimer’s or dementia and also pays for critical research into an effective means of prevention, treatment and cure.

Stephanie Eldore of Priest Lake is a top fundraiser for the event. She became involved in honor of her mother, who’s living with Alzheimer’s.

“The past five years have been the most difficult years of my life because my sweet Mom is losing the fight against dementia,” Eldore said. “She was a strong, intelligent, loving woman with a vivid personality. Watching the light leave her eyes has been horrendously heartbreaking.”

Participants learn about the disease during the event, including about local support programs. More than a half-dozen support groups are offered in North Idaho, including three in Kootenai County. The Washington State Chapter also offers a memory cafe for people in the early stages of the disease, as well as educational workshops.

“I’m on a mission to do all that I can to end Alzheimer’s,” Eldore said. “I pray that there will come a day when people will no longer lose their loved ones to this horrific disease. I know that I will be fighting against Alzheimer’s for as long as I live.”

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia, a term for memory loss and cognitive changes severe enough to interfere with daily living. It is a progressive and fatal brain disorder and the only leading cause of death in the nation that cannot be prevented, cured or even slowed.

Nearly 6 million Americans live with the disease; that number is expected to increase to 14 million by 2050. Nearly 30,000 people in Idaho older than 65 have Alzheimer’s; 85,000 state residents are unpaid caregivers providing support to loved ones with dementia. The duration of the disease and severity of the symptoms make Alzheimer’s the most expensive disease in the United States. Last year, the cost of caring for people with Alzheimer’s or other types of dementia surpassed a quarter of a trillion dollars, according to the 2019 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures report.